The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle
Squad17 Nov 2031
Ben Lederman falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match15 Nov 2031
Maccabi Petach Tikva come up short against Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Match17 Nov 2031
The half-term report on Maccabi Petach Tikva
Position 7, 17 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The dugout17 Nov 2031
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Aimar Vázquez to a room that had heard them before.
Squad17 Nov 2031
Tempers go at Maccabi Petach Tikva
Gil Weissman was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings17 Nov 2031
Eitan Melikson runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout17 Nov 2031
Joshua Lakkis asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout17 Nov 2031
The manager makes an example of Guy Levy
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Looking ahead17 Nov 2031
Maor Levi goes back to face Maccabi Netanya
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Maor Levi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Maccabi Petach Tikva needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
- Market The Nowaf Bazia story refuses to die
- The dugout Ido David has become a man the manager trusts
- Squad The room hears from Samuel Owusu